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Something NEW......Linux Audio

66.188.68.67
Posted on November 22, 2008 at 18:44:12
Dynaudio_Rules
 Ok, we have all talked about Windows XP, Vista and Mac to death.

What about Linux, I know there are some Linux users here, are you able to explain how you configured your sound cards, what you use to rip, and play your music with?

How you mount external drives with NTFS file systems....

Lets just start with the basics, what sound card works best with Linux? Do you use ALSA or OSS or something else? How do you configure ALSA etc. to work with your card?



Karma Means Never Having To Say You're Sorry

RE: Something NEW......Linux Audio, posted on November 22, 2008 at 21:18:31
John Swenson
Audiophile

Posts: 2201
Location: No. California
Joined: October 13, 2002
 I use linux a lot. I have 4 systems using linux for audio in one form or another.

One is my main server, its running standard off the shelf debian etch, it has no sound card, its just the server. It has 4 256meg drives in a raid 5 array using linux raid (NOT a hardware raid controller). It runs an older version of slimserver.

#2 is a small mini itx machine running DSL (Damn Small Linux) on an old small flash drive (512Meg) no moving parts. This runs squeeze slave into a homebuilt USB DAC. This is the "second system". (The main system uses a real squeeze box slaved to a DIY DAC )

#3 is an embeded system I'm designing using an AMD Geode module running Debian etch as well, this is connected by an LPC bus (low pin count), successor to the old ISA bus, to an FPGA which is part of a new DIY DAC system. This is not fully functional yet. Its going to run squeezeslave as well. This has NO switching supplies, everything is linear regulators, 5 separate power supplies etc. Its the culmination of everything I've learned so far. The amount of both airborne and supply EMI is incredibly low, extremely low jitter at the DAC chips.

I also have a system I use for recording. This one is connected to a Roland digital mixer through S/PDIF into a Maudio Audiophile 24/96. I also use Debian etch on this. Its purpose in life is just to take the digital in over the 24/96 and dump it into a WAV file. Its also a little more complicated because I'm generating a cue file on the fly. Pushing some buttons on the mixer console sends out midi commands that also go into the 24/96. I wrote a python program that reads the midi commands and does things like start ecasound to do the recording and puts a new entry in the cue file when the operator wants a new track. (this records live concerts that I perform in). The machine is again a small low power machine, small low power hard drive, only about 12 watts or so. I don't even use a display or keyboard with it, since it gets all its commands over midi. Its essentially a computer based digital recorder that does exactly what I want and nothing else. After the concert I plug its ethernet into a regular windows machine and burn CDs right on the spot for the performers. Since the cue sheet already has track information I don't have to do any editing. I used to use a laptop with XP for the recording but it was just too unrealiable, occasional blips, crashes etc. The linux version has always worked perfectly.

Well thats about it, unfortunately not one of them is a "normal" usage so it probably won't help you!

As to your specific questions, drivers for sound cards are a big issue for linux since very few manufacturers supply linux drivers. Thats one of the reasons I chose the Maudio 24/96, its been around for a long time and has a very stable linux driver. Before using a soundcard with linux its very important to find out if it has a driver, and if that driver supports the features you want, AND it works well. I definately prefer to use ALSA over OSS, its so much more flexible and allows you to choose whats going on.

Using ALSA and the HW layer is a much more straight forward path than using plug or dmix. Unfortunately sometimes you HAVE to use plug. For example the above mentioned 24/96 card only natively accepts 32 bit data, so you have to use the plug layer to convert 16 or 24 to what it takes.


I don't usually use any of my systems with an external mounted file system, but I have tried it several times to make sure it works. I've been able to mount windows NTFS exported file systems directly using the mount command. As long as you know the address and name of the shared filesystem it just works. There are some gui based front ends to that process (I don't remember the names), but I usually just type the mount command.

Linux has tons of ripping programs to choose from, the grandady of which is cdparanoia, which is extremely good, but difficult to use. I've recently been using sound juicer because it has nice front end and talks to musicbrainz for finding CD info. As long as you have the paranoia parameter set high it does a very good job of ripping (the default low value is not very good, I can distinctly hear the difference). I think these do just as good a job as EAC on windows.

Today I've been trying to setup Jack. The Jack group just released an early release of a new version of Jack which will run on windows as well as linux and allow then to talk to each other. Unfortunatly it takes a realtime kernel on the linux machine so I've been trying to figure out how to make one on debian today.

That brings up the one big disadvantage to linux IMO, there are SO many different versions that its very tough to offer binaries of many things, partiularly things like drivers and kernels. So they wind up being released as source which means you have to acquire at least some expertise at compiling programs on your system. Afetr a while you can get binaries for many things, but the latest and greatest developments are most commonly in source only.

John S.

standard USB and ALSA, posted on November 22, 2008 at 21:58:02
bullethead
 I use the standard usb_audio kernel module and ALSA to get everything working. I feed the USB out into my DAC. I also run a linux-rt kernel (real time patched) and sometimes set ALSA and my music players to run in real time as well.

For cd ripping I use rubyripper (which is hosted at google code) that's similar to other programs that rip the disk at least twice and then check to see if all the chunks match. I tend to rip everything into FLAC and use either one of two music player programs depending on my mood.

1. XMMS2
2. Audacious

For connection to NTFS I use ntfs-3g for read/write support on my external 500gig, and samba server on my server machine which hosts 2x 500gb external drives and also runs squeezecenter if I want to use my squeezebox instead of the computer as the transport.

Standard USB, posted on November 22, 2008 at 22:13:32
Dynaudio_Rules
 Which flavor of Linux you running, and does the usb_kernel come with the install or do you have to install and configure something?

Is this USB going out directly to your DAC or to something like a Transit USB.

Karma Means Never Having To Say You're Sorry

RE: Standard USB, posted on November 22, 2008 at 23:23:12
John Swenson
Audiophile

Posts: 2201
Location: No. California
Joined: October 13, 2002
 The standard USB ALSA driver comes standard with almost all distributions.

A transit is an interesting case. You can't just plug it in. It requires the download of firmware every time it powers up. The transit specific windows driver automatically does that, but its not so simple under linux. There is a loader program, and the firmware from the windows driver. You have to set things up so the loader gets run every time the transit gets plugged in. Most of the time this works. At one point I had a linux version that would not do the autoload of the firmware so I had to manually load the firmware each time I plugged in the transit! All modern versions should be able to do the autoload.

This is one of those things that needs checking before choosing a specific piece of hardware.

John S.
PCI Soundcard, posted on November 22, 2008 at 23:37:57
Dynaudio_Rules
 John,

Thank you for the information. I have been trying to load my PCI soundcard which uses Creative chipset with ALSA, the ALSA page says that the card is supported but I have had no luck.

I am using the directions on this page ALSA Quick Install

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RE: Something NEW......Linux Audio, posted on November 22, 2008 at 23:40:55
Dynaudio_Rules
 Your system #3 looks like it should sound great!

I'd be happy if I can get spdif out of my soundcard...




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RE: Something NEW......Linux Audio, posted on November 23, 2008 at 03:32:27
audioAl
Audiophile

Posts: 1057
Location: So. Texas
Joined: December 16, 2007
 Dynaudio, I had Unbutu "Hardy Heron", till I upgraded to Vista. I used the Wiki installer to create a partition for Linux. Linux is so great because you learn to introduce code to install new packages. Learning is what computing is all about to me, well, and the music! I am going to again download Unbutu today, hope it woks well with my Vista, I used the 64 bit version due to my duo-core processor.
Vista Ultimate 32bit/Diamond XS Dac/ Sterovox coaxial line in to Insignia Amp/Cambridge SoundWorks& Infinity RS 1001 Speakers

RE: Something NEW......Linux Audio, posted on November 23, 2008 at 05:46:10
Dynaudio_Rules
 Hi Al,

There is a new version of Ubuntu 8.10 out that has a built in USB installer and it also allows you to install Ubuntu [inside] of Windows. I used it to install Ubuntu onto my USB flash drive it works fine.

However I am still having a heck of a time getting my sound card configured. I know once I get all of the ALSA components installed I can do a ./configure make.... which will allow me to configure ALSA to my card, but I am running into small road blocks here and there. I need some help from someone who is experienced.

The difficult thing is that there is so much information out there in [different] locations that you [I] might use a bit from here or there to inch by inch make progress. I hope to first get it to work, and then try to consolidate the steps in a clear manor so it would be more straight forward. I have worked with many UNIX code writers in the past so I know how there is a difference between the way someone who is into code vs. someone who is not explains things....a code writer 99% of the time leaves some steps out [assuming] that those steps are common knowledge or just so easy that no mention needs to be made. I see this a lot even on the internet when steps are written out how to compile something for example.

One thing about Linux is that once you have it configured you will have something that is very small and powerful with only the processes running that are needed for the taste at hand. And learning how to do that is also part of the fun.

Once you get it downloaded let me know, maybe we can help each other...




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RE: Something NEW......Linux Audio, posted on November 23, 2008 at 06:00:46
soundchekk
Audiophile

Posts: 813
Location: DUS
Joined: July 11, 2007
 Hi there.

Linux Audio - SOMETHING NEW??? Not really. It is just not spread over a wider user group.
Good to see that large manufactures switch over to Linux since quite some time.

I switched over to Linux almost 3 years ago. In 95% of all cases I really don't need any other OS any longer.

As John Swensson mentioned - the key issue is the soundcard
support. The suppliers lack of willingness to provide drivers or to corporate with the Linux Audio layer guys from Alsa resp. OSS .
In many cases they just don't open up their books. Running OSS from 4Front technologies will enable you to get precompiled non-opensource drivers from certain manufacturers, such as Lynx. A Lynx Two will work
if you run OSS (retail-version) from 4Front Technologies.

However when it comes to rather standard cards Alsa supports a pretty wide range already.

You might not find your card in the list over there at Alsa. But don't give up so easy - Google will be your friend!

My top favourites:

Distribution:
Ubuntu Studio (a nice collection of audio applications. It's kept pretty lean and fast. Runs also well on old machines. Comes with a realtime kernel)

There is IMO no way to get around Ubuntu for a Linux Newbie. The support
and community is great.

You might want to try Kubuntu. If you go for Kubuntu you'll get to know KDE 4.1, which I personally like most as a Window Manager.
Note: You can install e.g. an Ubuntu Studio (stripped down Gnome WM) and
a KDE in parallel. You just choose the one you want to work with
at login.


Audio Player:
Music-Player-Daemon (IMO sounds best and extremely flexible, you can control it from any PC(Firefox) in the house easily) Even with an Ipod/Iphone you can control MPD.

Audio-Network manager (consumer)
pulseaudio

Audio-Network manager (pro)
Jack ( Jack is not needed for basic audio playback)

DVD:
vlc-player

Convolution and filtering:
brutefir (you won't find a faster machine somewhere else), with Acourate
filters

Ripping:
Rubyripper ( you can also run EAC with Wine (windows emulator under Linux)

It is always good to have the latest ALSA installed. I am maintaining
an ALSA installation script over here:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=962695

Hint: Setup a dual-boot system & Get used to the standard stuff first.
Dual Boot works flawless on MAC and Windows.
Don't try to start tweaking the system after first login.
Just get used to it first.
Your first task shouldn't also be installing ALSA with above mentioned script. ;)



Good luck!

Cheers
RE: PCI Soundcard, posted on November 23, 2008 at 06:35:49
bullethead
 How many soundcards are on your system? I found that a problem which needs particular attention if you have more than one soundcard. Also what soundcard do you have (consumer name, i.e. X-fi or what?). I know the X-fi support is still alpha.

RE: PCI Soundcard, posted on November 23, 2008 at 06:39:54
Dynaudio_Rules
 I have a few different cards but only use one at a time....now I am using a Auzentech card because it has a normal coax connector and is more straight forward because it allows the PCM data to pass through without any interactions from the card itself.



Karma Means Never Having To Say You're Sorry

RE: Standard USB, posted on November 23, 2008 at 06:42:20
bullethead
 I run Ubuntu 8.04 LTS (the one that has long term support), it's more stable as a code base than 8.10 and is made for long use (I believe the desktop release of 8.04 is supported until 2010 with upgrades). The usb_audio support comes with the kernel for almost every distro like John was saying.

It was as simple as setting ALSA to use c1 as the default card (card 1, as opposed to card 0 because I have two soundcards).

I might be able to help you as well, I've compiled things in the past and am not into code as your later message said. I tend to explain rather easily (I was thinking at one point to contribute documentation or even write my own how-to book (problem with that is it would be specific to my system).

RE: Something NEW......Linux Audio, posted on November 23, 2008 at 06:51:21
Dynaudio_Rules
 Thanks soundchekk,

I have two versions of Linux on two seperate drives....one is a USB flash which has Ubuntu 8.10 and another is actually on a partitioned HD with Windows, and it is Studio.

I used the ALSA install information located on the ALSA page ALSA Quick Install but I got stuck at the ./configure step. For some reason it is not seeing a directory and a file called version.h.
checking for directory with kernel source... ./configure: line 4773: cd: /usr/src/linux: No such file or directory
/usr/src/linux
checking for directory with kernel build...
checking for kernel linux/version.h... no
The file /include/linux/version.h does not exist.

However I do have version.h in the correct directory.
ubuntu:/usr/src/alsa/alsa-driver-1.0.18a/include$

I posted in the Ubuntu forums but so far no hits...


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RE: Standard USB, posted on November 23, 2008 at 07:04:27
Dynaudio_Rules
 Thanks Bullet

I too plan to contribute my experience once I get things working.

There is a site called Audiophile Wiki, which is much in the same spirit as Wikipedia but for Audiophiles. This site was created by the PS Audio founder. I think this would be an excellent place to document successful steps and knowledge to assist others. So far there is no information there for computer audio. I even asked Cics to post his cPlay there.

Today I am going to give it another shot...with my PCI card.

Wish me luck....lol



Karma Means Never Having To Say You're Sorry

did you install the kernel source?, posted on November 23, 2008 at 07:36:11
bullethead
 You have to install the linux kernel source code for the version of the kernel you're running. Did you do that? The ALSA sound card module has to be compiled against the kernel.

That's what " /usr/src/linux: No such file or directory" is complaining about.

I replied with the instructions in the ubuntu forums...

RE: Something NEW......Linux Audio, posted on November 23, 2008 at 09:20:49
sogood
Audiophile

Posts: 697
Location: Flint, Michigan
Joined: September 30, 2002
 I have two hard drives, Linux Ultimate Edition 2.0 (based off of Ubuntu 8.10) on the first one, and Windows XP-pro on the second one. If you install windows first, and then move that hard drive, to hard drive #2...you can install linux on a new hard drive (#1)....and it will pick up Windows as a second system boot option. Windows will not play nice with Linux if it is "master". I like having two totally different hard drives.

I use dbpoweramp to burn in linux (it runs in "Wine" just fine...EAC runs in wine also.

Playback is either Rhythmbox jukebox, or Songbird jukebox. I use an USB-digital converter, and Monarchy M-24 tube DAC for sound.


I'm just this week going to test the output options...(USB ALSA), (USB OSS), (PulseAudio).....as this version of linux is new to my computer. (I had Linux Mint-5 installed last week).


One thing I like about Linux is choice, tons of distros you can install and try for free....I've tried at least 10 at this point! (all the time, windows setting safe on the second hard drive).


Dave

RE: Something NEW......Linux Audio, posted on November 23, 2008 at 10:49:02
aljordan
Audiophile

Posts: 1062
Location: Southern Maine
Joined: November 4, 2003
 Hi John,

You have some interesting work going on. I would like to know how well the Mini ITX system works as a transport.

Currently I am running Squeezeslave on XP with an M-Audio 410 PCI or a Lynx 2B feeding the coax s/pdif input of my DAC. Squeezeslave on windows operates via DirectSound, but your post reminded that I also have an older Planet CCRMA on another partition that I used when playing with DRC. This installation has a realtime kernel and Jack. Do you have any idea if Squeezeslave might perform better under Linux?

Thanks,
Alan

RE: Something NEW......Linux Audio, posted on November 23, 2008 at 13:55:46
John Swenson
Audiophile

Posts: 2201
Location: No. California
Joined: October 13, 2002
 Is there a specific reason why you are installing ALSA separately rather than using the version that came with the distribution?

When you install alsa separately you have to be careful because most distributions come with alsa already, you can run into problems doing a separate installation when it might already be part of the kernel. Even if not in the kernel you can wind up with two different versions of the same named file in two different locations. Thats why I prefer updating alsa through the distribution's package update methodology rather than as a separate installation.

John S.

Ohhhhhh....OK, posted on November 23, 2008 at 14:05:44
Dynaudio_Rules
 I am going to give it a try. Thanks for the information!



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RE: Something NEW......Linux Audio, posted on November 23, 2008 at 14:08:16
Dynaudio_Rules
 For example if I install Ubuntu Studio I should not have to install any more ALSA anything, correct?

From that point I should just have to compile something to work with my individual card....guessing.

Is there some functional difference between ALSA and OSS? Any advantage or disadvantage? I'm going to do some reading to educate myself.



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RE: Something NEW......Linux Audio, posted on November 23, 2008 at 16:55:26
John Swenson
Audiophile

Posts: 2201
Location: No. California
Joined: October 13, 2002
 Most of the time you should not have to do anything to get sound support. As long as your sound hardware is connected when installing, the installation should notice what you have and setup alsa to use the right driver. That means if you have a USB DAC it should be plugged in at install time.

If you are using a PCI card, in a few cases the installation can't figure out what it is so you have to manually tell alsa what driver to use. That is just editing a couple lines in a configuration file. Not recompiling anything. The usual way to do this is to go to the alsa soundcard matrix and find out what driver your card uses. Then check the alsa forums to see if anybody else has done this or had problems, this can help configuring the driver (which is done in that configuration file I mentioned).

The only time you have to recompile is if you have a card with a new chipset that has a very new driver that has been made available by an alsa developer but is not included with your distribution. We'll cross that bridge only if we have to!

John S.

RE: Something NEW......Linux Audio, posted on November 23, 2008 at 19:20:07
Dynaudio_Rules
 John,

Ok, I can see my sound card when I look in the sounds menu, but I get nothing out of my spdif. I can see that it did indeed see my card but I don't know how to enable the digital out.



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RE: Something NEW......Linux Audio, posted on November 24, 2008 at 01:49:15
soundchekk
Audiophile

Posts: 813
Location: DUS
Joined: July 11, 2007
 Hi.

You need to install ALSA manually only if your card or particular functions of your cards are not supported within the ALSA revision supplied by your distro.
The ALSA version of your distribution is usually approx. half a year behind the latest stable version announced by ALSA. Many people were complaining about sound problems after the Upgrade to Ubuntu Intrepid.
These were actually solved with the latest ALSA revision.

Since ALSA is really permanently updating and improving things it is a good idea to have the very latest drivers installed.

You shouldn't face any issues if you use my script. I counted about
1000 downloads already, with almost no negative feedback.
It seems to be very reliable.


Cheers

RE: Something NEW......Linux Audio, posted on November 24, 2008 at 03:38:47
audioAl
Audiophile

Posts: 1057
Location: So. Texas
Joined: December 16, 2007
 Morning: I just installed "Ibex" Linux version, I use ALSA drivers, they work ok. I am new to Linux, I configured Wine a bit. I must use a little more volume with Ibex "Rythm Box player". When I had Hardy Heron I used Audious, miss spelled, anyway, I enjoy learning anything new about computers, Cheers! Alan
Vista Ultimate 32bit/Diamond XS Dac/ Sterovox coaxial line in to Insignia Amp/Cambridge SoundWorks& Infinity RS 1001 Speakers

RE: Standard USB, posted on November 24, 2008 at 03:49:02
audioAl
Audiophile

Posts: 1057
Location: So. Texas
Joined: December 16, 2007
 Good Luck, I had no problems with ALSA, I let the Linux Ibex do the work, I did install wine, haven't used it much yet,config audio, that's all. Alan,Cheers!
Vista Ultimate 32bit/Diamond XS Dac/ Sterovox coaxial line in to Insignia Amp/Cambridge SoundWorks& Infinity RS 1001 Speakers

RE: Something NEW......Linux Audio, posted on November 24, 2008 at 05:14:00
Dynaudio_Rules
 Thank You Soundchekk,

I am going to try it, later today I will create a partition on my hard drive and install Ubuntu Studio. I think I am very close even with the standard install because I can actually see my card in the sound configuration window. After reading your post in the forums I can check to make sure it is unmuted. I will report back and let you know how things went.

Thanks again



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RE: Something NEW......Linux Audio, posted on November 24, 2008 at 05:16:43
Dynaudio_Rules
 Wow, thats great Al!!

Ibex is the latest version of Ubuntu 8.10 correct?



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M-Audio Transit under Linux, posted on November 24, 2008 at 09:25:02
soundchekk
Audiophile

Posts: 813
Location: DUS
Joined: July 11, 2007
 Hi.

As somebody mentioned earlier. The M-Audio Transit needs firmware loaded
before it is usable.

It is a bit complicated under Linux to get it going, if you don't now how.

As mentioned earlier, there is always somebody "who's been there - done that" in the Linux community.


Have a look over at DIY-Audio.

I wrote a How-To over there.

http://www.diyaudio.com/wiki/index.php?page=LINUX+Audio+MAudioTransit


I just installed my Transit accordingly on Ubuntu Intrepid. It's working!

Good luck.

Cheers
RE: Something NEW......Linux Audio, posted on November 24, 2008 at 10:38:52
John Swenson
Audiophile

Posts: 2201
Location: No. California
Joined: October 13, 2002
 By default the S/PDIF output from most cards is turned off. You have to use the alsa mixer to turn it on.

alsamixer is a simple text based interface, it doesn't use a mouse just key presses from the keyboard.

When it comes up there will be a bunch of "columns" showing up, each for a different output or input supported by the device. The S/PDIF should show up as either SPDIF or IEC958. Use the right or left arrow keys to select the "chyannel" you want. Once you are on the S?PDIF one you can use the up or down arrow keys to change the volume or the 'm' key to toggle the MUTE function. You will probably find it either on mute or the volume is all the way down (or both).

That hopefully be sufficient to get S/PDIF working. Occasionally you have to add some stuff to the alsa configuration file to enable S/PDIF out, but try the alsamixer first.

There is a fancy GUI mixer available but you have to have the right libraries installed etc, so most people just use the clunky alsamixer.

John S.

RE: Something NEW......Linux Audio, posted on November 24, 2008 at 16:05:41
audioAl
Audiophile

Posts: 1057
Location: So. Texas
Joined: December 16, 2007
 Dynaudio: I downloaded Linux Ibex, now Vista wont dual boot so I can go to Linux, what did I do wrong?Alan thanks for any help.
Vista Ultimate 32bit/Diamond XS Dac/ Sterovox coaxial line in to Insignia Amp/Cambridge SoundWorks& Infinity RS 1001 Speakers

RE: Something NEW......Linux Audio, posted on November 24, 2008 at 18:55:02
Dynaudio_Rules
 Did you create a new partition of Ubuntu?

Before you try dual boot, I would read up on it and make sure every step is perfect. If not you might start an install that may corrupt your HD if you choose to abort and loose Vista.

This link might help

Karma Means Never Having To Say You're Sorry

RE: Something NEW......Linux Audio, posted on November 25, 2008 at 02:29:49
audioAl
Audiophile

Posts: 1057
Location: So. Texas
Joined: December 16, 2007
 Dynaudio: Yes, Ibex 1.0 is the latest, I had "Hardy Heron" when I used XP, wubi installed, never a problem. Now, I wubi installed Ibex with Vista made a 30 gigbyte partition, and Linux came up thru my Mainboard screen asking me which OS I wanted to boot. This happened twice, great, I started to load music files into Ibex, then, the next time I turned on the computer Vista came up fast,only, and showed a blocked start up warning. Now I cant get back to Ibex. I build pc's but programming is not my forte.
Vista Ultimate 32bit/Diamond XS Dac/ Sterovox coaxial line in to Insignia Amp/Cambridge SoundWorks& Infinity RS 1001 Speakers

RE: Something NEW......Linux Audio, posted on November 25, 2008 at 03:58:12
audioAl
Audiophile

Posts: 1057
Location: So. Texas
Joined: December 16, 2007
 Thanks Dave & Dynaudio, I got Mean with Vista, I went into msconfig, checked the startup gui box, slapped the Vista b....! Whupped it into shape! Vista wont play nice, so I too got dirty, I used the internet to fix my problem. YEEE HAAWWW! audioAl in Ibex!
Vista Ultimate 32bit/Diamond XS Dac/ Sterovox coaxial line in to Insignia Amp/Cambridge SoundWorks& Infinity RS 1001 Speakers

RE: Something NEW......Linux Audio, posted on November 25, 2008 at 04:54:48
audioAl
Audiophile

Posts: 1057
Location: So. Texas
Joined: December 16, 2007
 Yes Dynaudio: I know a code writer\programmer, he's been diong it so long, he cant talk properly, poor fellow. All thoes 0's and 1's messed up his head! I love to learn about Audio and Computers, I took an electronics course at a tech school, got my certification, now I build custom computers for people in my home. I'll take all the help in programming I can get, so thanks Dynaudio, Cheers Alan.
Vista Ultimate 32bit/Diamond XS Dac/ Sterovox coaxial line in to Insignia Amp/Cambridge SoundWorks& Infinity RS 1001 Speakers

RE: Something NEW......Linux Audio, posted on November 25, 2008 at 07:19:44
sogood
Audiophile

Posts: 697
Location: Flint, Michigan
Joined: September 30, 2002
 Linux Mint, and openSUSE are the two best linux distros I have tried out of all the top ones....Ubuntu is a close third.

Linux Mint-6, and openSUSE 11.1 will be set for release very soon.


Dave

RE: Something NEW......Linux Audio, posted on November 25, 2008 at 21:00:16
agillis
Audiophile

Posts: 3
Joined: November 25, 2008
 Linux make a great Audio server for many reasons. It's cheap (Free), there is good audio software for it, and it will run on an older system with less resources.

I have been using Logitec media players and a Linux based VortexBox media server. This combination works very well. You avoid using a sound card in a "noisy" PC and the server can be located in another part of the house.

This is how my set up is wired. It reduces as much noise as possible.

Vortexbox --ethernet--> Slim player --spdif optical--> Receiver

Another advantage is VortexBox automatically ripps the CDs to FLAC and MP3. It also tags the CDs for me saving time and reducing errors.

If anybody is interested in building a dedicated Linux audio server this is the fastest way to go.
RE: Something NEW......Linux Audio, posted on November 25, 2008 at 23:38:31
artcheng@netvigator.com
Audiophile

Posts: 340
Joined: November 14, 2003
 Would be nice if there can be a distro with an audiophile approach. Ubuntu studio is close but there are still many unneccessary programs, the kernel can be better and more optimization can be done.

I was trying to do that myself but is almost giving up now. Too difficult for someone who do not know much about Linux.

RE: Something NEW......Linux Audio, posted on November 26, 2008 at 01:27:50
soundchekk
Audiophile

Posts: 813
Location: DUS
Joined: July 11, 2007
My two cent:

SUSE: It's not what I'd call a Linux. (It is something between Linux and Microsoft)
MINT: The support and release management is not what you see with Ubuntu.
Ubuntu has a much wider powerbase to get things going.

Why switching to Linux, posted on November 26, 2008 at 02:16:27
soundchekk
Audiophile

Posts: 813
Location: DUS
Joined: July 11, 2007
 Hi there.

Here is a bit of background reading about "Why switching to Linux"
I guess quite some remarks in there would also apply for OSX.

https://help.ubuntu.com/8.10/switching/index.html

I am well aware that there are certain reasons (not very many though) to stay with the OS market leaders.

Have fun.

RE: Something NEW......Linux Audio, posted on November 26, 2008 at 04:10:56
Dynaudio_Rules
 Sure, it would not even have to be optimized for audio but just be able to do certain things out of the box. Like don't come out of the box with certain aspects muted, don't provide a solution for audio and "not" have clear instructions how to use it [many if not most instructions have key elements [code] missing as if to assume everyone knows or ought to know those missing steps]. For example how to unmute alsamixer, you can seach the web high and low [even the alsa page itself] and not find anything.

Here are instructions from the ALSA sight itself, which I tried to use with no success, in short it did not work. But instead you just need to type alsamixer in a terminal window then tab to your choice and toggle the letter m.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unmuting

The ALSA drivers can use the ``muting'' facilities that most soundcards have. If you loaded the sound drivers and everything is fine but you get nothing but silence, then you probably forgot to unmute your card. You need ``amixer'' or ``alsamixer'' for this, both from the ALSA-util package. Just typing

amixer set -c 1 Master 70 unmute
amixer set -c 1 PCM 70 unmute
amixer set -c 1 CD 70 unmute

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The trouble is seems, that there are so many distros arranged in so many ways that commands that work for person A might not work for person B, because of the number of variables in their particular distro. So person C gives person B advice on what code to run and it gets them so far, next person B finds person A and uses part of their proceedure and gets a little further etc. After some time, if person B has not given up he is likely to use bits from multiple places to make something work, or might be lucky enough to stumble on code that works for any distro.

But with all that said, LINUX or UNIX has the potential to out class any OS when put together right. Much like buying a car off the lot and trying to race with it vs. buying a true race car but in kit form. With the right mechanic [programmer] the kit can outclass to pre-made version every time. What I need to do is buy myself a UNIX book, sit down and learn myself so that I can be that mechanic. Then it would not matter which flavor of Linux I used, I can make it do exactly what I want.



Karma Means Never Having To Say You're Sorry

RE: Something NEW......Linux Audio, posted on November 26, 2008 at 06:12:17
sogood
Audiophile

Posts: 697
Location: Flint, Michigan
Joined: September 30, 2002
 My opinion is based on "user experience" only... (openSUSE is nothing like Windows)...you must have never tried it?

Mint is a lot like Ubuntu (it's based on that)...it's easier to use (support is better than Ubuntu....because the support forum is more newbee friendly than the Ubuntu forum....again, user experience).

As I mentioned...Ubuntu is a very close third.


For those with lots of user experience, who don't mind, and know how to, jump through lots of hoops to get a smooth running linux system...lots of other linux distros come to mind as top choices. (they are just not as newbee friendly)


Dave

RE: Something NEW......Linux Audio, posted on November 26, 2008 at 06:56:50
sogood
Audiophile

Posts: 697
Location: Flint, Michigan
Joined: September 30, 2002
 Puppy linux is the best distro I've used if you want an, almost build from scratch operating system. It's very "lite" and fast...with just enough GUI to make things a little more easy to do, than the rest of the super lite distros I've tried.....give it a try!


That said, I see no reason to run super lite operating systems on todays computers...great for older computers though.


Dave

RE: Something NEW......Linux Audio, posted on November 26, 2008 at 07:19:13
soundchekk
Audiophile

Posts: 813
Location: DUS
Joined: July 11, 2007
 Hi.

I didn't say that Suse is like Windows. I said it's no what I'd call
a real Linux. They added too much proprietary stuff in there for my taste.

Of course you can use Mint. Even though there is IMO not very much in there what you couldn't install on a basic Ubuntu.
It seems to me that they do not really are that professional structured as Ubuntu ( releaseplanning etc.).

In the end, all these distros are pretty similar to the outer world, since they all running Gnome, KDE or whatever WM.

I always look for the best supported Linux, incl. forums, documentation etc. Nothing comes close to Ubuntu (Of course you can use Ubuntu stuff if you run Mint).

For PC-Audio it is of course Ubuntu Studio, which takes the lead.

THX

RE: Something NEW......Linux Audio, posted on November 26, 2008 at 07:56:21
sogood
Audiophile

Posts: 697
Location: Flint, Michigan
Joined: September 30, 2002
 SUSE works "out of the box"...and that was my main point. People who are new to linux need less frustration...not more.

Ubuntu is geared towards people that "don't" want to take a collage course, just to get basic computing going....still, you must jump through several hoops to get there with this distro.

Suse and Mint are simply less hoops....openSUSE being most user friendly of all, (out of the box).

That said...maybe something like "Puppy Linux" would be better than anything above?....for those that don't mind all the extra work, and research.

I like linux, and I'd like to see it take off!....way to many hoops for most people I have tried to pitch it to, at this point though. Maybe in a year or two?


Dave
yes in a year or two, posted on November 26, 2008 at 13:19:41
bullethead
 I've been using this os since my college days (mid 90's), believe me it has come a long way, Ubuntu was part of that, distros based off Ubuntu are really gaining steam (Like Linux Mint). Suse is by far really polished and their 1 click install web site is excellent. I've yet to see anything fully made for desktop use but Linux Ultimate Edition (based on Ubuntu, and mentioned here previously in another post (1st I heard of it), is by far a desktop users dream...

Here's to another year or two, but what we have now is fascinating, it's only going to get better and better!

RE: yes in a year or two, posted on November 26, 2008 at 17:52:16
sogood
Audiophile

Posts: 697
Location: Flint, Michigan
Joined: September 30, 2002
 Ya, I was the one who mentioned the Ultimate Edition...it was new to me too. I have been trying just about every new distro that comes out, it's kinda fun, I guess? .....(or I'm going nuts!)


Funny how we find useless things to do after we retire :-)


Dave

welcome to the club!, posted on November 27, 2008 at 09:07:52
bullethead
 welcome to the club my friend, we've been waiting for you :)

fyi: If you type in "alsamixer" in the command line you'll see an ansi gui for the soundcard you select, you can raise and lower the volume, mute and unmute with the keyboard rather than using command line switches, that's "alsamixer -c x" where "x" is your sound card.

Have a nice holiday!

Steve

RE: Something NEW......Linux Audio, posted on November 27, 2008 at 18:43:26
sogood
Audiophile

Posts: 697
Location: Flint, Michigan
Joined: September 30, 2002
 I've found that most sound problems can be traced to "Pulseaudio"...you need to set it up first.

To bad the latest Ubuntu (and probably other distros)...don't seem to offer a way to do that?...they got rid of the setup controls?...or at least I can't find them in Ubuntu 8.1 (they were there in 8.04?)

Linux Mint-6 still has all the controls, but it's not a final release yet...soon maybe? I played around with the early Mint-6RC-1 and did get all sound working fine after tweaking the PulseAudio settings.

openSUSE has all the controls in the control panel for Pulseaudio...but you don't need to mess with them to get sound...the sound works out of the box.


PulseAudio has found it's way into almost all new linux distros.



Dave

RE: Something NEW......Linux Audio, posted on November 28, 2008 at 06:23:12
Dynaudio_Rules
 I wonder why all the "fundamental" aspects of a computer were not taken care of before release. In many ways Linix is like buying a nice car but only in pieces....with the right mechanic [programmer] you will have a real nice end product, but in the hands of the avg. Joe it will remain in pieces never having been used to its full potential. I feel like I am building a model...this is truly for the hobbiest




Karma Means Never Having To Say You're Sorry

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